The 2024 Tony nominees don’t only work on Broadway. From Justin Peck to Kelli O’Hara, the classic arts scene in New York abounds with acclaimed artists. Here is just a sampling of some of the classic arts events happening this week.
New York City Ballet’s spring season continues with a second Classic NYCB program celebrating the company’s 75-year history. Classic NYCB II, opening May 8, opens with two contrasting pieces by Jerome Robbins: Interplay, set to a jazz-infused score by Morton Gould, which was created to follow up on the immense success of the similarly jazzy Fancy Free; and Other Dances, one of many ballets Robbins choreographed to selected piano pieces by Chopin. The Robbins half of the program will be paired with two more recent works from the company’s repertoire: Pam Tanowitz’s Gustave Le Gray No. 1, set to the piano composition by Caroline Shaw, and Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit, set to an orchestration of Sufjan Stevens’ 2001 electronica album Enjoy Your Rabbit. Year of the Rabbit was the first collaboration between Peck and Stevens, who have since created several other pieces together, including the recently Tony-nominated dance musical Illinoise.
NYCB will also begin performances this week of an all-Stravinsky program, starting May 10. The program features the work of three different choreographers taking on the famed modernist composer: Christopher Wheeldon’s Scènes de Ballet, Justin Peck’s Pulcinella Variations, and George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements.
Justin Peck isn’t the only 2024 Tony nominee showing up at Lincoln Center this week. Kelli O’Hara, nominated for her performance in Days of Wine and Roses, reprises her acclaimed performance in Kevin Puts’ The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera, alongside soprano Renée Fleming and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. The Hours also features choreography by Annie-B Parson, Tony-nominated this year for her work in Here Lies Love. Performances also continue at the Met this week of John Adams’ El Niño, Bizet’s Carmen, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Soprano Kathleen Battle returns to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera for a one-night concert May 12, featuring music by Purcell, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Villa-Lobos, and Rodrigo, as well as selected spirituals. Battle will be joined by harpist Bridget Kibbey and guitarist Chico Pinheiro.
Conductor Jane Glover will join the New York Philharmonic May 8-10 for a concert comprising three Mozart symphonies: Nos. 13, 35, and 39. The concert will also include Beethoven’s concert aria “Ah, perfido!”, sung by soprano Karen Slack.
Soprano Erin Morley and baritone Andrè Schuen join the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall May 9 to perform Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. Conductor Xian Zhang leads the orchestra, who join with La Chapelle de Québec and Ensemble Altera for the choral concert which also includes Brahms’ Begräbnisgesang.
Pianist Yuja Wang performs at Carnegie Hall May 10, giving selections from Messaiaen’s Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 8, Debussy’s L’isle joyeuse, and Chopin’s four ballades. Carnegie Hall will also host performances this week from the Oratorio Society of New York performing Handel’s Samson, The Orchestra Now giving the New York City premiere of Eugène Ysaÿe’s recently rediscovered Violin Concerto in D minor, and soprano Regula Mühlemann in a recital of Schubert, Strauss, Argento, and Frank Bridge.
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus presents AND SING!, a conversational concert, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music May 6. Bass-baritone Davóne Tines, currently performing at the Metropolitan Opera in El Niño, co-hosts the event with conductor Arreon A. Harley-Emerson to examine choral music of the Black Diaspora.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents Songs and Snow May 7. The program includes George Crumb’s American Songbook IV: Winds of Destiny and Tan Dun’s Elegy: Snow in June. Winds of Destiny will be performed by soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish. Elegy: Snow in June will be performed by cellist Alisa Weilerstein. Percussion ensemble Sandbox Percussion will play in both works.
To stay up to date with classic arts news, subscribe to Playbill's classic arts newsletter.
